


A Call For Help

by Scrawlers



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series)
Genre: Family Feels, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-20
Updated: 2017-06-20
Packaged: 2018-11-16 15:40:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11255955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scrawlers/pseuds/Scrawlers
Summary: While trying to care for Lusamine in Kanto, Lillie calls her brother for emotional support. Thankfully, Gladion is only ever a phone call away.





	A Call For Help

Lillie was strong now. That was what she told herself, over and over again, on the boat ride to Kanto, and on the way to the Cerulean City hospital where her mother would be staying, and each and every day when she visited her mother in said hospital. (She was going to travel to Pallet Town to receive her first pokémon, of course, but she had decided to wait until her mother seemed well enough to be on her own.) She was strong now, she was capable now, she wasn’t fearful and weak anymore. She told herself that, time and again, and yet—

Lillie wiped at her eyes as she sat on the bench beside the public phone in the hospital, and took a deep, shaking breath. She sniffled, and hoped the congestion from her crying wouldn’t be easily audible in her voice. She wasn’t trying to hide anything from Gladion, not really, but—

Well, she had chosen to use a phone without video for a reason.

He picked up on the fourth ring—a little slow, for him, but still faster than she knew he would have answered for anyone else—and before she could say anything he said, “Lillie? Is everything okay?”

Despite how she felt, she smiled. “Yes, everything’s all right,” she said, even though it wasn’t, even though it _was_ because she was suppos—was strong now, and so things like what had just happened shouldn’t bother her anymore. “Um—how are things back home?”

“Fine,” Gladion said, and she knew that he would say that regardless of how things actually were, because he always said that. Lillie had a feeling that he could have been in the middle of a hostile battle with Faba over the future of the Alola region when he answered, and that even as he gestured for Nul— _Silvally_ to take out Faba’s hypno, he still would have acted like nothing out of the ordinary was happening. (Then again, given the type of person Faba was, Lillie supposed that a hostile takeover _wouldn’t_ have been out of the ordinary.) “What’s wrong? You sound upset.”

Lillie’s reflexively squeezed the receiver, and despite how off-guard Gladion’s accusation had caught her, she frowned. “I do not.”

“Yeah, you do,” Gladion said.

“No, I don’t,” Lillie insisted, “because I’m not.”

“You’re a shitty liar, Lils,” Gladion said, and Lillie was caught by a conflicting rush of offense at Gladion’s profanity, and warmth for the nickname he had used for her ever since childhood. “I can tell you’ve been crying—what’s wrong? Did she do something?”

Lillie opened her mouth to answer, yet no sound came out. It was silly—stupid, even—to be so upset over such little comments, and she knew she shouldn’t be. She was strong now. She was so strong, and she was going to be a trainer, and she was going to prove that she was worthy of Nebby. She didn’t have to call her brother for every little thing. That wasn’t what strong trainers did. And she _was_ strong, she _was_ , she had grown a lot and she could—she could handle this—

“Lils?” Gladion pressed.

“I—nothing,” Lillie said, and she swallowed and cleared her throat to try and work past the squeak in that one word. “It’s—it’s nothing, but . . .”

“But?”

“Could you, um—would you . . . would you like to come to Kanto?” Lillie tried to make her voice light and upbeat—cheerful, like Hau always could and did no matter what the situation was. One time, shortly after she had moved in with Professor Kukui, Hau had followed her up into the loft. Lillie hadn’t heard him—he was so quick and light on his feet, and she had been so focused on getting Nebby’s bag, that she hadn’t heard him ascend the ladder. Yet when she had turned around, there he was, and she had been so shocked that she had shoved him without thinking. Hau had tumbled off the loft and landed hard on the floor below, yet when she had rushed to make sure he was all right, he had laughed the whole thing off, despite the pain he was in. Hau could always sound cheerful and upbeat, no matter what. Lillie needed to channel some of his sunshine. “It’s really quite nice here, and there are a lot of interesting sights and pokémon to see. I’ve heard a lot of great things about Mt Moon, and I still have to travel through there to reach Pallet Town, so I thought that we could go through together and—”

“I’ll be there tomorrow.”

“—mayb—huh?” Lillie almost dropped the phone, but caught it again at the last second. A passing nurse gave her an odd look. “Tomorrow? That soon?”

“Or however the time zone bullshit works, yeah,” Gladion said. “I’ll catch the next flight out.”

“But what about things back home? Aren’t you—weren’t you put in charge of Aether Paradise?”

“Like I give a fu—shit,” Gladion said, and Lillie appreciated that he had at least tried to censor himself, though she wasn’t sure how much good it did for him to substitute profanity for different profanity. “Wicke can deal with it. She should’ve been dealing with it in the first place, but—whatever. I don’t care. I’ll be there tomorrow. You gonna be okay until then?”

“Yeah. Yes. I’m okay _now_ , but . . . thank you, Gladie.” Lillie twirled her finger in the cord of the phone, and closed her eyes as she cradled the receiver a little closer. “I’m really happy you’re coming here. I’m staying at the Sand Dollar Suites in Cerulean City, okay? I don’t know where the nearest airport is, so—”

“Looks like Saffron City,” Gladion said, and she heard him typing and then a mouse clicking from the other end of the line. “But it looks like I’ll be able to get to Cerulean within the day, so it’s not a big deal.”

“Be careful,” Lillie said. “I’ve heard Saffron City can be dangerous, especially with the underground paths near there. Apparently—”

“Whatever the fuck’s dangerous in Saffron City’s gonna be real sorry if they try any shit with me or Silvally tomorrow,” Gladion said flatly. “I’m gonna see you tomorrow, my time, and that’s that. We’ll meet at that hotel of yours, okay? Sand Dollar Suites, right?”

“Right,” Lillie said. “What time is your flight getting in? I don’t have a phone yet, so . . .”

They exchanged flight times and worked out the time zone difference, and once it was established that they would meet up at six p.m. in the lobby of Lillie’s hotel, Lillie hung up the phone. The moment she did, she felt an icy slip of shame slide down her back.

Odds were that, by the time Gladion arrived tomorrow, she would be perfectly fine. She didn’t _need_ him to come to Kanto, and calling him over something so small—making him think that there was an emergency, that there was danger—was wrong of her, especially since she was so much stronger now than she was back then. But it was done, now—he was definitely, for sure coming—and she knew there was nothing in the world that she could do to stop him. Even if she called him right back and told him that it was fine, he didn’t need to come visit, he wouldn’t believe her. Worse still, he might think there was someone forcing her to say that. So she had called him, and he was on his way, and that was that. She would see him tomorrow. And for all that knowing that she would see her brother tomorrow made her feel better, it also made her feel a little worse.

Even so, she forced herself to smile, to at least _look_ upbeat even if she didn’t feel it. She would see him tomorrow, and that was that, and if nothing else they would at least both get a hug out of it. That was something to look forward to.

**\- - -**

 

As promised, Gladion arrived at the Sand Dollar Suites lobby a little after six p.m. And despite thinking that she wouldn’t _need_ to see him, that it was wrong of her to call him, Lillie all but ran to him the second she saw him walk through the door, and threw her arms around his neck.

Gladion stiffened in her embrace, but it still only took a second for him to hug her back. His hugs were tight—they had always _been_ tight, even when they were five and he was hugging her as he assured her that she was pretty and great and hadn’t done anything wrong, even if Mommy _was_ mad again. His hugs were tight, and they were the best, even though his hoodie was _covered_ in pokémon dander and he smelled a little like cigarette smoke (he had picked up the habit after running away, apparently, and he had told her he was quitting before she left for Kanto, but the smell was fresh and she suspected quitting was harder than he had made it seem). But as tightly as he hugged her, he ended it just as quickly; he pulled back, his hands on her shoulders and his eyes staring directly into hers, as he asked, “What’s wrong?”

Lillie shook her head, her lips pressed tightly together, and although it was much harder to lie with him looking right at her like that, she tried anyway. “There isn’t anything wrong. I just . . .” Her lower lip trembled, and she sniffed as she felt tears stinging at her eyes. “I just really need to have you here right now.”

And in the next second, before she could help it, before she could stop it, before she could even think of how ridiculous it was given how strong she was now, she started bawling. It escaped her first as a hiccup—a sob—and then was pouring out of her before she could help it. Once again Gladion pulled her into a hug, albeit a gentler one this time, as he guided her over to the sitting area in the lobby, further away from the reception desk and the new guests entering in through the front doors. As they sat down on one of the sofas he fished Silvally’s pokéball from the pocket of his hoodie, and in a quick flash Silvally was standing sentry, blocking them from view. Lillie hiccupped and coughed as she tried to get her crying under control—tried _so hard_ , because Hau didn’t cry, and neither did Alola’s first Champion—but it was difficult, even as Gladion rubbed soothing circles into her back as he held her, and murmured assurances like, “Shh, it’s okay, Lils, it’s okay, I’m right here, it’s okay . . .”

“I—I—I’m s-sorry,” she blubbered, and she wiped at her eyes, even though there was no point in trying to hide her tears now. “I just, I—sh-she’s right, I can’t do it, I can’t—”

“Who’s right, and about what?” Gladion demanded.

“M-Mother,” Lillie said, and though Gladion’s demand had made it clear he had a good idea who Lillie had been talking about even before she said the word, the moment she did, his face twisted into a scowl.

Their mother wasn’t conscious for very long each day. Although Wicke had been hopeful that doctors in Cerulean City would be able to offer treatment, it turned out that the transformation Bill had suffered had been fundamentally different from possession by an Ultra Beast, and as such Kantonian technology was no more adept at healing their mother than Alolan technology would have been. But Lillie hadn’t wanted to return to Alola as a failure—hadn’t wanted to admit to everyone there that her journey had been for nothing—and so she had checked her mother into an Kantonian hospital regardless, where they were doing everything they could to help her recover. As it stood, she was still only managing an hour of lucidity each day, if that. But during her lucid hours she and Lillie were still able to talk, and Lillie had explained her intentions of going to Pallet Town, receiving a first pokémon and maybe even a Pokédex, and setting off on a journey of her own. There was no Island Challenge in Kanto, but there were Gyms, and Lillie had hopes that she would be able to challenge them and win badges.

Her mother was . . . less than optimistic.

“What do you want to become a trainer for?” her mother had said. “Is the Aether Foundation not enough for you?”

“I—no, that isn’t it,” Lillie had said, and she had twisted her fingers together in her lap. “I just think that becoming a trainer would be fun, and—and it would help me learn about pokémon. It helped Hau, and—”

“You need to stay here with me,” her mother had said. “I need you. You know I can’t get by without you.”

“I know, and I’m not leaving,” Lillie had said. “Not yet, not until you’re better—”

“But you’re already talking about leaving. You talk about it every day. You can’t wait to leave.” Her mother had settled back on her pillows, and had looked up at the ceiling. “Just like your father, and your brother. Both of them left me, too, after all I did for them. And now you’re the same way. I’ll die without you, but you’ll leave me anyway.”

“No, I won’t!” Lillie had insisted. “I won’t, Mother, and—and Gladion didn’t either, not really. He left, but it was only temporary. He’s at home now—”

“Oh, I’m sure he is,” her mother had said, but her voice had been so dry of sincerity that it was practically a desert. “How do you imagine you’ll make it when you abandon me, Lillie? It is a long way to Pallet Town from here, isn’t it? You’ll encounter many wild pokémon.”

“I have Repels—Max Repels,” Lillie had said. “They’ll keep the wild pokémon at bay until I have my own to protect me.”

“Repels only work if you have a high-level pokémon with you. They worked before because you had Cosmog, but they won’t work now. You didn’t think about that, did you?”

“I . . . n-no, I didn’t—”

“Thoughtless and simple. You always have been my simple girl.” Her mother had reached out and gently tapped her lips, something she had done ever since Lillie was a baby, and Lillie had ducked her head.

She had ducked her head and held back her tears then, but now was a different story. She furiously scrubbed at her eyes as she sputtered, “And she’s—she’s right, Gladie, she’s right, I didn’t e-even think, and I—I can’t do it, I can’t—”

“No,” Gladion said flatly. “Fuck that and fuck her. You can and you will.”

“Gladion!” Lillie hissed. “Watch your language, _please_ , we’re in public and she’s our mothe—”

“Like I give a fuck. Let Tapu Koko smite me if it wants or whatever, hell if I care. Listen.” Gladion put both of his hands on Lillie’s shoulders, looking directly into her eyes, and though more tears slipped down her cheeks, Lillie did her best to not look away. “The bitch who calls herself our mother is president of two things: the Aether Foundation, and being the fucking worst. And she’s wrong, okay? She’s wrong because she’s the worst, and being the worst means that she has to be really fucking wrong about everything that’s actually good and decent in the world by lying about it. So even though you can and you will go to Pallet Town, get a pokémon, and be a great fucking trainer, she’s going to lie and say you can’t and won’t because she’s a horrible bitch, and being a horrible bitch means she only feels good when she’s making someone else feel bad.”

Lillie took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “Please stop calling her a . . . a bitch. She’s our _mother_ , Gladion.”

“And she’s the _fucking worst,_ Lillie,” he shot back. “Look at you, you’re a wreck because she’s been a fucking—”

“ _Gladion_ —”

“—because she’s been _horrible_ when all you’ve been trying to do is be good to her. And for what, huh? What has she done to deserve it? What has she ever done to deserve _either_ of us trying to do _anything_ for her?” Gladion tapped his foot rapidly against the ground, and Lillie could feel him trembling, enough to shake the sofa they sat on. “I used to think that it was just because Dad left, and then I thought that maybe it was because of the neurotoxins, but here she is _still_ being like this even after we—” He shook his head, sharply as if to dislodge a fly, and then said, “No. No. Not anymore. I’ve had it. I’m fucking done.”

“What does that mean?” Lillie asked. She had a sudden wave of déjà vu—a memory of when he ran away the first time, and she didn’t know what she would do if he did it again. She needed him, she couldn’t stand to go another two years without him, not when he was both her brother _and_ her best friend—

“It means you’re— _we’re_ going to Pallet Town, _you’re_ getting a pokémon, and _I’m_ teaching you how to battle.” Gladion took her hand and stood up, pulling her off the sofa with him. “We’re gonna do the Gyms or whatever bullshit they’ve got here in Kanto, and Lusamine can rot in the fucking hospital or wherever the hell she is. She wants to talk about how everyone’s betraying and abandoning her? Fine. Let’s let her see what that feels like.”

“Gladie, we can’t do that,” Lillie said. “She’s our mother, and even if she wasn’t, we can’t prove her right—”

“The hell we can’t!” Gladion said. “Lils, I spent two years living out of a motel room, sharing packets of instant noodles and pokébeans with Silvally, and getting kicked around by Team Skull just for trying to survive and maybe, just _maybe_ protect Silvally while I was at it, only for her to call me a nasty little traitor the first time she saw me after two years. She didn’t give a _fuck_ what I went through or what happened to me. It was all about _her_. And you? She treated you like shit, tried to _kill_ you, and now, after you’ve gone _out of your way_ and put your _own_ life on hold to try and help her—something I, by the way, also did by sticking around fucking Aether Paradise until she got back—she’s _still_ calling you names and making you feel bad just because you want to live your own life. Forget her being our mother. I don’t care anymore. I got along without a mom just fine for two years, and I can do it again, and so can you, because this time, we’ll have each other. She wants to be horrible? Fine, but she can do it without us. She can be horrible to someone else. We’re _done_ , okay?”

The right thing to do, Lillie thought, would have been to say no. They were a family, they were supposed to stick together. They were supposed to stand by (and up to, when needed) their mother no matter what. Their mother had no way to treat them the way she did, and Lillie knew that, and she had told her as much in Ultra Space; but even if she did, running away wasn’t really the right answer. Proving their mother right by leaving wasn’t the right answer.

But where her mother told her that she couldn’t become a trainer, Gladion told her that she would. Where her mother had hushed and scolded her for starting to cry in the hospital room (“What if someone sees? Wipe your tears,” her mother had snapped), Gladion had hugged and comforted her. Where her mother had just tapped her lips time and again, Gladion was holding her hand, his grip secure and warm.

She shouldn’t leave. She shouldn’t abandon her mother, like her mother had said that she would. But standing in the hotel lobby, with her twin brother holding her hand and his partner Silvally standing behind him, Lillie nodded.

“Okay,” she said, and Gladion smiled. His smile was fierce and bright; it blazed like the sun above the Alola archipelago, and Lillie felt true warmth for the first time since setting foot in Kanto.

“Okay,” he said. “Then let’s go get your stuff.”


End file.
